Chapter Text
Lunch had rolled around finally, much to Jimin’s delight. He hadn’t been able to eat breakfast that morning due to sleeping past his alarm. Miraculously, he made it to school on time, but at the cost of delicious food to fill his hungry stomach and just packing last night’s dinner as his lunch.
Jimin hurried his way to the courtyard where Taehyung was sitting on a wall with a sweet pancake in his hold.
Taehyung saw Jimin and waved at him with the hand holding his food. Jimin got to the wall and set his food on top of it.
“What’d you bring this time?” Taehyung asked, peering down at Jimin’s lunchbox.
“Nothing special,” Jimin said as he revealed his food. “Just rice, meat, vegetables—basically my leftovers from dinner last night. I didn’t have much time to actually make something.”
“Still looks good.” Taehyung held his pancake to Jimin’s face. “Want a bite?”
Jimin shook his head and Taehyung proceeded to eat his lunch while Jimin took out his chopsticks and started eating his lunch excitedly.
Oh, food had never tasted any better than it did at that moment.
The two sat in silence as Jimin just stared out into the distance as he ate his lunch. He watched as other students were walking around, hanging out, or eating lunch with each other. He heard Taehyung let out a loud sigh, so he looked over at him questioningly.
“What’s wrong?” Jimin asked.
“I still want to die after my performance yesterday,” Taehyung said. “I never ever want to act. I’m perfectly content with being a part of the crew where no one can see me make a fool out of myself.”
“Crew is so boring for me,” Jimin said, taking another bite of his food.
“Unlike you, just being on stage makes me anxious. I almost want to cry. Almost! I’m a big boy who doesn’t cry.”
Jimin snickered. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, big boy.” He just continued his lunch as he listened to Taehyung whine about how stressful being on stage made him feel.
There was a light tap on his left shoulder, Jimin turning to his left to see no one. He looked over to the right and felt an abrupt poke to his cheek.
He quickly drew himself away and glared right at the person who had just poked him—and there was Jungkook smirking right at him, facing forward and walking off with his friend Hoseok beside him who was lightly laughing about what just happened.
Jimin groaned before looking at Taehyung who had stopped ranting and was now eating his food sulkingly. “Why didn’t you tell me that Jeon was coming this way?”
“Hm?” Taehyung looked at Jimin. “Jungkook? He was?”
Jimin sighed. “Nevermind. You were too busy wallowing in your own self-pity to even notice anything.” He glared back to where Jungkook was, seeing that he and Hoseok talking to another person. It looked like their drama teacher.
No, it was definitely their drama teacher.
“I swear he’s always talking to Mr. Kim,” Jimin said. He looked back at Taehyung briefly before putting his attention back to his rival. “Do you think he kisses up to drama teachers to get lead roles?”
Taehyung looked over at Jungkook. “Mr. Kim may be laidback, but he seems like the kind of person to take drama seriously. I doubt he’d let someone influence him unfairly. Besides, you’ve gotten lead roles before, and you don’t kiss up to drama teachers.”
“I earned those roles fair and square. But look at Jeon!”
“I am.”
“Why is he even talking to Mr. Kim? Who even talks to teachers during their breaks? I sense some foul play.”
Taehyung patted the top of Jimin’s head. “You’re being irrationally paranoid. Just ignore him.”
“That’d be so easy to do if he didn’t bother me so much. Ugh, his very existence just pisses me off. I don’t understand what’s so great about him. Everyone has no taste in what true acting is.”
“Okay, Jimin.” Taehyung stuffed the rest of his sweet pancake into his mouth and hopped off the wall, placing his hands on Jimin’s shoulders and making the shorter of the two face him. “You need to get Jungkook out of your head. Let’s think of something else. Maybe...” Taehyung glanced around before he suddenly gasped. “Seojun!”
“Okay, fine. Seojun has great abs and I want to—”
“Hey, Jimin.”
Jimin’s eyes widened as he spun around, and there was Seojun standing before him. “Seojun! Hi!” Jimin tried to glance behind him at Taehyung, only to get pushed forward by his best friend. Jimin ended up colliding right into Seojun who caught him by wrapping his arms around Jimin’s smaller frame.
“Oops, sorry. Muscle spasms,” Taehyung lied, making Jimin mentally curse at him. “I’ll go to the nurse to check that out.” With that, Taehyung quickly ran off and Jimin wanted to yell at him to come back, but instead he turned to face Seojun with a smile.
“H-Hi,” he said shyly. He could feel his face heat up, so he placed his hands that were slightly cold to his face. “Wh-What brings you here?”
Seojun reached into his pocket and held out a pen to Jimin. Jimin looked down at it and his face immediately lit up.
“I think this is yours. I must have accidentally taken it with me after our study session at the library,” Seojun said. “I didn’t realize until this morning when I opened my pencil pouch and saw a pen I didn’t remember having.”
“Th-Thank you,” Jimin said, taking the pen from Seojun. “You could have given it to me in drama class later.”
“I know, but I saw you as I was passing by, so I just thought to give it to you now before I forget. Anyway, I’mma go now.”
“Yeah, sure.” Jimin’s smile brightened. “Thank you for yesterday.”
“Anytime.” Seojun smiled before waving and taking his leave.
Jimin just watched Seojun leave in awe, he didn’t even realize that Taehyung appeared right beside him.
“What did he give you?” Taehyung asked.
“My pen,” Jimin said with a loving sigh. He held the pen close to his chest. “He had it since yesterday after school. I’m never washing this pen again.”
“Okay, weird.” There was a pause. “Are you going to finish your lunch?”
“I’m too in love to eat.”
“I’m eating your lunch then.”
Jimin didn’t care, because the fact Seojun had his pen was way more important to him than his hunger.
-
Jimin was completely lovestruck for the rest of lunch and the entirety of his next class before drama. He could barely pay attention, because all he could think about was that Seojun had his pen for nearly an entire day. He was going to see him in his next class and nothing was going to bring down his mood.
Well, he thought that was the case, but then he saw Jungkook’s stupid face the moment he walked into the classroom.
Jungkook was talking again to Mr. Kim about who the hell knows what, and Jimin had to look away, because Jungkook’s existence was appalling. He had to go back to his happy thoughts, like Seojun. He was going to walk through the door any moment now and Jimin was going to stare at him until Seojun looked his way, because he didn’t know how to flirt any other way.
Jimin took a seat at one of the chairs, one that had an empty spot next to him. He could save it for Taehyung, but he hoped that Seojun would come over and sit beside him.
Much to his disappointment, the bell rang and the students started piling into the classroom, but Seojun didn’t show up. He saw Taehyung enter the classroom and take the empty spot beside Jimin.
He leaned towards his best friend and asked, “Where’s Seojun?”
Taehyung and Seojun had their previous class together—Korean Literature. So, Jimin would get updates from Taehyung whenever Seojun did anything deemed attractive in that class. However, to Jimin, anything Seojun did was attractive, so Taehyung always had something to talk about.
“He had to leave early,” Taehyung said. “Something about auditions he couldn’t miss out on.”
Jimin’s eyes widened. “He’s auditioning for something? What is it?”
“He never said, but maybe you can ask him the next time you see him.”
Jimin pouted. “That’s gonna take forever.”
“It seriously won’t.”
Jimin felt a tap on his shoulder, but from what happened earlier, he assumed it was Jungkook and didn’t turn around. He just pretended that he didn’t feel anything.
However, he felt another tap and he was ready to snap at Jungkook for annoying him yet again, but instead he saw Soojin who was sitting right behind him.
“Hi, Jimin,” she said and handed him an empty paper cup. “Would you be a dear and toss this for me? Thank you.”
Jimin just stared down at the item before taking it and standing up from his seat. He tossed the cup into the bin and turned on his heels to sit back down, only to find that Jungkook had taken his seat and was talking Hoseok seated nearby.
He gaped at Jungkook and then looked at Taehyung who began panicking and, amidst his stress, smacked Jungkook to grab his attention.
Jungkook yelled out in pain and glared at the person who smacked before his eyes landed on Jimin. A mischievous smirk appeared on his lips.
“Did you need something, Park?” Jungkook asked not-so-innocently.
“My seat,” Jimin growled.
“Ah, your seat.” He pointed to an empty seat that was way in the back. “Over there.”
Jimin narrowed his eyes at Jungkook who laughed. Taehyung picked up Jimin’s bag from the ground and stretched it out towards his friend, Jimim angrily snatching it and storming to the very back of the classroom.
He felt completely disrespected by that entitled brat, and he was currently plotting ways to get back at Jungkook.
Mr. Kim took his place at the front of the classroom and clapped his hands together to get the class’s attention.
“Good afternoon, class!” Mr. Kim began. “Now, since I was rudely interrupted by the bell yesterday, let’s talk about the school play.”
The class began whispering to one another. Well, except Jimin. He had the lone chair. He was separated from everyone else.
It was all Jungkook’s fault.
Mr. Kim once again clapped his hands. ”As I mentioned yesterday, this is an original play written by a former drama student. She wrote this brilliant play and it was so beautiful that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have my students perform it. Now, I have the script on my desk and today we will be signing up for auditions that will be held next week. Everyone has to sign up for something, whether it be to perform on stage or work behind the scenes. Today, we will practice auditioning. Even if you don’t plan to perform, today’s practice will be very helpful for you all, my little drama chicks.”
The class was visibly excited about next week’s auditions. From what Jimin could see, Taehyung slumped into his seat at the mention of auditions.
Poor Taehyung. Jimin wished he could be next to his best friend to comfort him, but a certain numbnuts had to go and steal his seat.
Stupid Jungkook. Seojun wouldn’t treat Jimin like this. If only Jungkook miraculously disappeared and Seojun appeared in his place instead.
“Everyone, get a partner,” Mr. Kim said. “Person A will be a CEO of a successful company who has their life planned out and Person B will be a chill person who lives in the moment and goes with the flow and is learning how to fit in to the CEO workstyle. You will practice your audition by doing improv. Let’s get to it!”
Jimin was so ready to jump up and grab Taehyung to be his partner, but he saw Hoseok reach out towards his best friend and immediately dubbed themselves partners before taking him to one side of the room. Taehyung looked at Jimin pleadingly, and Jimin stormed up to them.
There was no way Jimin was letting Jung Hoseok partner with Taehyung. The guy found it amusing whenever Taehyung clammed up, got sweaty, sped up his words, stumbled over his words fidgeted—basically everything Taehyung did when it came to performing in front of the class. Jungkook was annoying to Jimin, but Hoseok terrified Taehyung. Taehyung was already socially awkward, and Hoseok only made it worse.
Hoseok wasn’t necessarily like this on purpose, Jimin understood. He was just oblivious when it came to people’s emotions. It didn’t excuse the fact he was literally bad for Taehyung.
Before Jimin could get to the pair, he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Jungkook.
“Jungkook, let’s be partners!” Jimin heard Soojin say.
Jungkook ignored her and said to Jimin, “Partner up with me.”
Jimin folded his arms over his chest. “Why would I do that?”
Jungkook held his hand out, prompting a handshake. “May the best actor win.”
If there was one flaw Jimin had, it was the fact he was super competitive—especially when it came to Jungkook.
And just now, Jungkook challenged him.
How could he say no to that?
“Victory will be so sweet,” Jimin said as he shook Jungkook’s hand, Soojin turning away to find a different partner.
“It will be a piece of cake,” Jungkook said with a grin.
“Ooh! Do I smell a rivalry?!” exclaimed the teacher. “I’m most certainly looking forward to this practice audition!”
“As well am I,” Jungkook added.
Jimin was pretty sure he was baited by Jungkook just so he could annoy him, but Jimin wasn’t going to let that brat get his way.
Not this time.
Except working with Jungkook proved to be difficult, because the guy was roleplaying as the CEO, but he was goofing around instead of cooperating with Jimin, and it was annoying. He kept changing his character during their little improv session.
“You’re being really unprofessional right now, it’s making me want to barf,” Jimin complained. “Why can’t you stick to one character instead of switching it up?”
“I’m experimenting,” Jungkook said. “I’m testing out which character fits best.”
“You couldn’t have done that before we started? Or at least let me know you were going to experiment instead?”
“Okay, well I just told you I’m testing things out, so there’s that.” He cleared his throat and then just stared blankly at Jimin and said in a dull tone, “How’s this for a character? I think this is pretty fitting.”
Jimin raised a brow. “What kind of a character is that?”
“Don’t you know the movie Childish?” Jungkook asked. “The CEO in that movie lacks emotions.”
“Why don’t you come up with your own original character?”
“My character is inspired by the CEO in that movie. Plus, no one owns the character trait ‘emotionless sociopath.’ Now you’re stalling. The clock is ticking, Park. Chop chop!”
“Not my fault your acting is awful.”
“Don’t put your panties in a twist. This isn’t an actual audition, you know.”
“Why did I agree to partner up with you?”
“You backing out? Do I win by default?”
Jimin huffed and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. He needed to let go of whatever anger he had towards Jungkook right now and just get through this dreadful assignment.
However, before he could even speak, Jungkook interrupted, “Why don’t you be the CEO then? You seem to be such a natural at having an entire tree branch up your ass, I wouldn’t have even guessed you were acting.”
Jimin gaped at Jungkook who smirked at him. He glared at Jungkook. “We have an assignment to work on right now, and all you can do is make fun of me?”
“Chillax, Mister Jimin,” Jungkook said, only irritating Jimin more. “Why are you taking this so seriously?”
“Don’t call me that. You’re literally taking everything as a joke, and I’m sick of it. When will you take things seriously?”
“Hey, I tried out something, and you shot it down. If you want to dictate everything so badly, you could have just told me what to do instead of letting me do things on my own. But I also don’t roll the same way you do, so I’m just going to continue doing what I do best.”
Jimin clenched his fists, but then Mr. Kim walked over with a loud gasp.
“Wow, you two are so great at acting!” Mr. Kim said. “I thought your argument was believable! I could feel so much anger emitting from Jimin and the carefree trait in Jungkook. I’m honestly amazed. I can’t wait for your auditions next week!” With that being said, he walked off.
Jungkook looked at Jimin with a broad smile. “Well, would you look at that. Mr. Kim liked our ‘performance.’ You’re welcome.”
“You didn’t do anything,” Jimin said with his arms crossed over his chest.
“That’s what you think. I just made us switch roles and you became Person A whereas I became Person B. I purposely angered you so you’d get into a believable asshole of a character. I pretty much brought out the better actor in you and kept a calm character. Plus, you believed this whole situation was real.” He smirked. “Therefore, I am the best actor between the both of us. I will gladly take the win.”
Jungkook gave a light pat to Jimin’s cheek before walking off to talk to other people in the class who were done with their practice auditions.
Jimin couldn’t believe that Jungkook manipulated him, and right now his blood was boiling.
Jimin thought it was impossible to hate Jungkook even more, but Jungkook successfully proved him wrong.
Now, Jimin was going to make sure that he got the lead role for next week’s audition. It wasn’t fair that someone like Jungkook could get it so easily when Jimin had worked hard for years.
No matter what it took, Jimin was going to beat Jungkook.
Victory couldn’t be any sweeter than that.